Because Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray and Gin Blossoms are playing  at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on the 21st, we figured we’d give a little tribute to the time of Generation X, cargo pants and alternative rock.

1995

8. “Til I Hear it from You” (Congratulations…I’m Sorry) Gin Blossoms

“Well baby I don’t want to take advice from fools
I’ll just figure everything is cool
Until I hear it from you”

Before you could put “it’s complicated” as your relationship status, there was this anthem.

7. “Ang Huling El Bimbo” (Cutterpillow) Eraserheads

“Magkahawak ang ating kamay
At walang kamalaymalay
Na tinuruan mo ang puso ko
Na umibig ng tunay”

Because no one sang about love and loss in the ’90s as good as the E-heads.

1996

6. “Buloy” (Khangkhungkherrnitz) Parokya ni Edgar

“Hoy hoy, Buloy
Naaalala mo pa ba
Nung ika’y tumawag sa’min at ika’y umiiyak…

Tapos pagkatapos no’n, kay tagal mong nawala.
Nagulat na lang ako nung narinig ko ang balita.
Akala ko pa naman na marunong kang magdala,
Nalaman ko na lang na ika’y nagpakamatay na…”

It was this song (and of course “Harana”) that put Parokya in the playlist of every barkada inuman of the time.

5. “Kisapmata” (Trip) Rivermaya

“O kay bilis namang
Maglaho ng
Pag-ibig mo sinta,
Daig mo pa ang isang kisapmata.”

If Bamboo’s singing about getting dumped, then you know relationships aren’t easy.

1997

4. “Walkin’ on the Sun” Smash Mouth

“It ain’t no joke I’d like to buy the world a toke
and teach the world to sing in perfect harmony”

This was the song that put Smash Mouth on MTV Charts. It was the summer song of 1997. It didn’t even matter if you didn’t know what “toke” meant.

1998

3. “Closing Time” Semisonic

“Closing time
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”

Semisonic’s first hit and effectively the unofficial end credits track of every weekend gimik.

1999

2. “Every Morning” (14:59) Sugar Ray

“Every Morning there’s a heartache hanging
from the corner of my girlfriend’s four-post bed
I know it’s not mine and I know she thinks she loves me
but I never can believe what she said”

This was probably one of the first “contemporary” songs you learned to play on the guitar.

1. “You Get What You Give” (Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too) New Radicals

“Don’t let go
You’ve got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don’t give up
You’ve got a reason to live”

Think of “You Get What You Give” as New Radicals’ attempt to give a Gen X-friendly, mass consumption-ready version of Sidney Lumet’s Network.

 

What’s the late ’90s to you? Share your thoughts below.

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